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#staffreads: coffee for you, water for all

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This week’s #staffreads is written by Ellie Jones who recently interned at Virgin. Ellie is talking shoes, coffee and everything in-between.

Virgin Unite has previously shared stories of TOMS model, One for One, but if you’re anything like me, you might not have realised quite how much this popular shoe brand does to support disadvantaged communities all over the world. For every TOMS product you purchase, you are helping a person in need as they too receive a pair of shoes. Since they started in 2006, TOMS Shoes has given out over 10 million pairs of shoes to children in 59 different countries.

Realising that One for One® could be applied to more than just shoes, TOMS founder Blake Mycoskie, extended the model with the launch of TOMS eyewear. Similarly, with every pair of glasses they sell, TOMS helps restore sight to a person in need.

Since 2011 TOMS Eyewear has restored sight to over 200,000 people who were in need of eye surgery, prescription lenses or an eye-related medical treatment.

…And this year the brand has launched an exciting new label, TOMS Roasting Co.

If you’re wondering what TOMS knows about the coffee industry then you’ll be pleased to read the following on their website:

“When we started as a shoe company, we knew nothing about footwear. But starting from scratch only made us work that much harder. We're taking the same approach with our coffee, from crop to cup, under the guidance of our selected Master Roaster, Angel Orozco. For the last 10 years, Angel has been researching, experimenting and driving the art of coffee. Now, he's putting a decade of passion and experience into each bag of TOMS Roasting Company beans.”

This time the One For One idea is slightly different, with every bag of premium coffee sold providing one week of clean water to one of the 780 million people who don’t have access to clean water.

To do this, TOMS has partnered with Water For People to support water systems in five of the countries that their coffee beans are grown in. Each bag of premium coffee guarantees 140 litres of water to someone in need living in a coffee producing region.

“The No. 1 ingredient in making coffee is water, and coffee is often grown in places where clean water is scarce,” Blake said.

Watch the video above to find out more about TOMS Roasting CO. and the video below to find out more about Water For People.